Source: Radio New Zealand
Armourguard (owned by US-based Evergreen International) is the only supplier of specialised cash transport services. Armourguard / supplied
- Commerce Commission rejects interim bid for banks and some retailers to negotiate with Armourguard
- Interim bid was over cash transit services
- Commission intends to make a final decision at a later date
The Commerce Commission has declined an interim request by the Banking Association to negotiate collectively on behalf of the banks and some retailers, for cash-in-transit services with Armourguard.
The Commission was not satisfied that the benefits of collective bargaining by the banks would outweigh the negatives, although it intends to make a final decision at a later date.
It was a split decision, with one of the three commissioners dissenting.
“All commissioners agreed that this was a finely balanced decision,” Commission chair John Small, who voted to decline, said.
“However, on the information provided the majority of commissioners are not satisfied that the potential benefits of permitting collective bargaining would outweigh the potential detriments,” Small said.
Commissioner Bryan Chapple also declined the request, while associate commissioner Nathan Strong dissented.
“Commissioner Strong’s dissenting view is that granting interim authorisation and allowing the participants to begin collective negotiations would preserve the potential for the benefits of collective negotiation to be realised should the Commission grant full authorisation, and that this outweighed the potential detriments of interim authorisation,” Small said.
Armourguard (owned by US-based Evergreen International) is the only supplier of specialised cash transport services, after the Commission allowed Evergreen to buy out its only competitor in 2024.
Armourguard had previously warned against the banks’ application.
“On one side, you have New Zealand’s last remaining cash services provider, which has been carrying heavy losses while continuing to invest in the nation’s resilience,” Armourguard chief executive Shane O’Halloran said in September.
“On the other, a group of banks that make billions each year and now want permission to act as a cartel to drive costs down for banks as opposed to the broader market,” he said.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
